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CrowdyVest secures new investment, breaks out as a standalone company

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CrowdyVest secures new investment, breaks out as a standalone company

CrowdyVest burst onto the scene in 2019 as a local crowdsourcing platform for small and medium scale businesses to achieve their short- and long-term goals with investment from willing users.

The model has worked and grew the portfolio of parent company, Farmcrowdy.

As of the time of this writing, though, CrowdyVest has now become a company of its own too.

An investment round led by Tope Omotolani saw the new company secure important investment from a handful of investors which allows it to stand on its own. Tope also becomes the first CEO of the new brand as it forays out on its own.

The new company has reacted nicely to this exit by pivoting its business model to serve the target market even better.

One of the new products that has been added is a digital savings service for the thousands of platform subscribers that the company boasts right now.

We wish the company the best in all of its endeavours as it hopes to become one of the leading wealth management companies in the country soon.

Netflix debuts Fast Laughs to rival TikTok and IG Reels

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Netflix debuts Fast Laughs to rival TikTok and IG Reels

Netflix won’t let Instagram and TikTok have all the fun – so they have brought you something for some fast laughs.

We mean it. The name of the platform is basically ‘Fast Laughs.’

This is similar to that TikTok and the IG Reels bring to the table.

However, the company takes a unique approach to how things are done on its own platform.

For the other services, user generated content is the order of the day. Here, interested users create the content that the community consumes.

For Netflix, the company will take short clips from movies that are funny. These very short scenes are designed to bring laughs out of the audience.

The genius behind this idea is that Netflix can get more streams out of users. After all, seeing a funny scene could spur a user into wanting to see a movie again or for the first time.

Study: Nigerians pay the most to use the internet globally

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Study Nigerians pay the most to use the internet globally

We have felt this way for some time now and we are happy that there is data to support this.

According to the Digital Quality of Life Index, Nigerians pay the most to use the internet.

This is not a survey carried out against other African countries but all countries in the world.

Looking at the current internet speeds available to the average user, bandwidth and data allocation to the cost, telcos have to step up their game a lot.

Putting the data into context, it is revealed that an average Nigerian has to work about 27 minutes and 55 seconds to afford 1GB of data. That doesn’t look too disconcerting till you know that the average for other countries is about 10 minutes.

The numbers get ugly.

For those who want broadband internet, they would have to work 33 hours and 42 minutes on the average. That is more than a full straight day of work, and about 4 days of normal work hours.

With these numbers, the digital innovation space in the country will surely not grow as much as it should be. Such high barriers of entry might not keep innovators out, but it will affect their potential customer base.

As a reference, we did a piece on MTN’s 2020 earnings which shows that the company posted strong numbers but suffered a decline in data users (up to 7 million). Now we know some of the reasons why.

ImaliPay secures undisclosed amount in pre-seed funding to expand African operations

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ImaliPay secures undisclosed amount in pre-seed funding to expand African operations

The gig and freelance economy are booming in this part of the world too. The coronavirus pandemic might have helped this kind of work model gain more traction in little time also.

One of the start-ups that leveraged the boom in this gig economy is ImaliPay, creating financial solutions for different members of the gig economy.

As of the time of this writing, the working model of the start-up is one that allows freelancers to save their incomes and access loans that they can pay back as at when convenient.

ImaliPay has now secured a pre-seed funding to help them scale better and faster across Nigeria and Africa as a whole. The funding also makes it possible for the brand to come up with new financial solutions and products for its target market.

That said, ImaliPay might just be the one that brings serious credit history into our economy.

The more freelancers save their incomes on the platform – and the more they pay back their loans on time – the better their credit history. This allows them to access even better financial services that the firm provides in the future.

Even after the pre-seed round, we are yet to get details on how much the company got in total. What we know, however, is that the round was led by TEN13, an Australian Ventura capital. Also, part of the seed round were the likes of FINCA Ventures, Changeroom, Optimiser Foundation and Mercy Corps Ventures, among others.

MTN Nigeria posts some strong pandemic-defying 2020 numbers

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MTN Nigeria posts some strong pandemic-defying 2020 numbers

Even though a pandemic ravaged most businesses, MTN Nigeria has been able to post some strong numbers.

If anything, this shows us that the Nigerian economy is still very much viable for business and is poised to bounce back stronger against the effects of the pandemic.

From the stables of the telecommunications giant, we have that the user base of the company increased by 7.4 million in the year 2020 alone. This means that the company now boasts nothing less than 32.6 million subscribers across the entire country.

A cause for concern is the earnings before tax, interests and other deductions. While it grew by 9.7% to NGN685 billion, the entire earnings after tax declined by 2.5 percentage points. That is in comparison to a strong year when there was no pandemic so these numbers are still pretty solid, given the situation of things.

It is not all rosy for the telco, though.

For example, they saw a 7.4 million decline in the number of their active data users. If there is a saving grace, though, it is that their earnings per share soared to NGN10.1, representing an 0.9% increase.

Specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Book Go Leaked; To Arrive in May 2021

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Specifications of the Samsung Galaxy Book Go Leaked; To Arrive in May 2021

Last December, Samsung took to the European Union Intellectual Property Office to trademark the moniker ‘Book Go.’

At the time, speculations say the South Korean firm may announce a device with the name ‘Samsung Galaxy Book Go’ soon.

Today, a tipster shared a few of the specs of the Galaxy Book Pro as well as Galaxy Book Go devices. 

He speculated that the devices might launch in May 2021. 

The tipster shared a poster image containing some information regarding the Galaxy Book Go.

According to the poster, the Book Go would sport the fastest Qualcomm processor ever seen in a Galaxy Book series. 

The device would run on Windows 10 Home, and it will come with a 14-inch display that supports a Full HD+ resolution. 

The tipster further mentioned that the device would debut in two processor variants – a standard model with 4GB of LPDDR4x RAM alongside 128GB of internal storage and the Snapdragon 7c chip.

The high-end variant would feature the latest version of the Snapdragon 8CX chipset called Gen X. 

The newer Gen X processor promises to deliver up to 10% CPU performance and up to 40% improved GPU performance. And it will have 8GB of LPDDR4x RAM and 256GB of internal storage. 

Meanwhile, Sammobile leaked the key features of the upcoming Galaxy Book Pro and Galaxy Book Pro 360. 

The leaks stated that the former would feature a 13-inch screen and the latter a 15.6-inch display. 

He also shared another image which reveals the specifications of the two devices. They will feature Full HD AMOLED panels and Intel 11th Gen CPU versions like i3, i5, and i7.

South Africa Startup, Synatic, Secures Funding to Expand Its Services into the United States

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South Africa Startup, Synatic, Secures Funding to Expand Its Services into the United States

To expand its services into the United States, Synatic has raised seed funding from UW Ventures and its partners – Allan Gray and E Squared.

With the funds raised, Synatic looks to deepen its low-code data platform and expand its customer base across the US.

The startup launched in 2017, and it has developed a low-code data automation platform. The channel enables enterprises to iterate quickly.

And it also provides rapid time to value for businesses that need to accelerate by leveraging multiple complex data systems.

The firm’s mission has been to provide powerful and simple data platforms to help enterprises build their businesses faster.

Synatic places primary focus on financial service companies; and it has over 40 enterprise clients across Africa, Australia, and the United States.

‘’We believe there is a wealth of talent and experience in South Africa. And it provides us with a great opportunity to build world-class products,’’ said Martin Naude, CEO of Synatic.

‘’We have found market-fit products. Hence, the need for capital to expand the team, deepen our tech, and grow our US customer base,’’

‘’We are privileged to have UW Ventures and their partners as our first investors. They get our vision to make powerful data automation a piece of cake. We therefore look forward to having them on board not only as investors, but also advisors.’’ Martin concluded.

Remitano Launches New Feature to Ease Money Transfers between South Africa and Other Countries

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Remitano Launches New Feature to Ease Money Transfers between South Africa and Other Countries

In the last 12 months, the volume of money transfer sky-rocketed globally. To provide quality service and generate some revenue, a few startups created safe online platforms to allow individuals to send and receive payments – both local and international.

One of the many startups is Remitano in South Africa. Due to the increasing rate of money transfers, the firm has launched a new payments system on its platform – Cash-out quickly.

The new feature is a smart and safe channel for international payments. It will allow South Africans to send and receive Rands (ZAR) from other countries with less charges.

For convenience, the user can access the cash-out feature without having to complete their KYC. New users can create a Remitano account and send payment to any country within seconds – it’s that simple.

The user would have to link their Remitano account with a preferred bank of choice to fund their Remitano wallet. Payments made will be deposited into the receiver’s Remitano wallet. And they can proceed to withdraw from their bank of choice.

The cash-out quickly feature provides users with a fast and secure channel to transfer money to friends and family abroad.  And also receive international payments in Rands.

The new Remitano payment feature helps users to overcome the complex procedures and high charges on traditional money transfer channels.

The platform also allows users to deposit and withdraw funds with ease.

Leaked Images Suggest that the AirPods Pro 2 would Feature a Light and Compact Design

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Leaked Images Suggest that the AirPods Pro 2 would Feature a Light and Compact Design

Last year, Apple took the covers of the AirPods Pro true wireless earphones. The highlight of the accessory is the active noise cancellation functionality it features.

The noise cancellation feature gave the AirPods Pro an edge over other wireless earbuds. And it saw that Apple sold millions of units.

Now, reports have it that the tech giant is working on the successor model of the AirPods Pro. However, with a new design.

Claims mention that the second-generation AirPods Pro would have a much round-shaped earphone design. It will also feature the iconic in-ear design and active noise cancellation.

Regarding the charging case, it pretty much has the same as the first-generation model.

However, reports say that the new case would be much compact and lighter than the current model.

Inside, the second-generation Airpods Pro would feature the Apple H1 chipset – the same chip that drives most of the AirPods series, including the current AirPods Pro.

The audio experience on the upcoming AirPods Pro would likely improve. And it will also come with additional features like resistance against sweat, water, among others.

A few other reports have mentioned that the upcoming AirPods Pro may come in two distinct sizes – a regular one and a bigger one.

It is advisable to take this information with a pinch of salt.

MTN Launches Its Supersonic AirFibre Offering in South Africa

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MTN Launches Its Supersonic AirFibre Offering in South Africa

Finally, MTN has debuted its Supersonic AirFibre service in South Africa. The offering aims to put an end to the problem of distance and lack of infrastructure in urban, township, and rural areas. 

The latest innovation provides fibre-quality connectivity to more households and communities across the nation. 

”We are breaking down the traditional barriers that have denied many people the access to a modern and connected life,” said Calvin Collett, Managing Director of MTN SA’s ISP.

”From Soweto to Swellendam, we believe that every household deserves the speed and benefits of fibre-like connectivity. Hence, the launch of the Supersonic AirFibre service.”

The Supersonic AirFibre connectivity aims to deliver swift, inexpensive, and uncapped connectivity solutions to areas where traditional fibre installations are absent. 

The connectivity solution was built on unlicensed spectrum. And it’s being maintained by MTN’s technology team.

The telecommunication firm designed the service to deliver quality network – one that align with MTN’s standards – at affordable rates.

”Our Supersonic AirFibre offering is in line with our track record of optimizing frequency bands. In the past, we have undertaken this approach through the allocation of repurposed bands for 2G mobile services as well as new generation of mobile technology – including third and fourth generation technologies,” Collett added.

Speedy installation is one of the advantages of the AirFibre offering. It requires no trenching and subscribers of this service will enjoy access to new technology that matches a full-fibre installation.

The following are the launch costs of the Supersonic AirFibre service:

  • R399 for 5Mbps uncapped 
  • R499 for 10Mbps uncapped 
  • R599 for 20Mbps uncapped 
  • R799 for 50Mbps uncapped 
  • R999 for 100Mbps uncapped

The swift connectivity service will be available in areas where customers register their demand for the offering.